Last Updated on September 23, 2021 by YGK News Staff
With less than a week to go until the election, it appears that Kingston will remain a Liberal stronghold.
According to a recent poll from 338Canada, Liberal candidate and incumbent Mark Garretsen is expected to once again win the Kingston and the Islands electoral district.
The September 14th projection expects Garretsen to garner 39% of the electoral vote, with a confidence interval of 8%.
Gerretsen initially won the riding in 2015 after the riding had been redrawn and was re-elected in 2019. Throughout the 2021 election period, he has continued to criticize the Conservative Party for its stance regarding gun ownership rights.
Recently, Gerretsen accused the Conservative Party of Canada of breaking the Elections Act by colluding with the National Firearms Association (NFA).
“I am requesting that you assess whether there may be grounds to commence an investigation to determine whether Mr. DeLorey’s political activities as a registered lobbyist gave rise to a quid pro quo arrangement between the NFA and the Conservative Party,” Gerretsen wrote.
Despite broad support for Gerretsen, he continues to be challenged by competition from other parties in the region.
Federal NDP candidate Vic Sahai has seen a surge in support in Kingston and the Islands. NDP support is now the highest its been in over a decade.
Sahai says that his platform is based on “fighting for a fairer and more sustainable future for everyone.”
Sahai, a trained epidemiologist, describes himself as a social activist, public health scientist and passionate environmentalist.
He says the past year and a half through the pandemic has exemplified the social injustices already present in society that need to be addressed.
An unexpected winner in the Kingston and the Islands district has been the Peoples Party of Canada.
The PPC is now expected to garner 10 percent of the vote, which is triple from 2019. Meanwhile, Kingston’s Conservative support has dropped compared to previous years.
PPC Candidate Shelley Sayle-Udall was criticized in recent weeks for staging an anti-vaccination protest across from KGH on September 7th. Her controversial positions were also heavily criticized during several all-candidates debates.
